That Heroic Red
by Zeprithy
Summary: Even after all those years, Kido still found herself searching for Ayano. [Oneshot]


A fluttering of red trailed in the corner of Kido's eye. Her head jolted towards it, more frantic than she'd like to admit, but then the wind dropped, and she realised it was only the material of a dress blowing in the breeze. The woman it belonged to giggled, pushing down the fabric with a blush.

Kido swallowed and quickened her pace. As the world rushed past her, she pretended the ache in her chest wasn't disappointment.

How long had it been now? It seemed like a thousand years had passed since Kido had heard her older sister's laugh. It was a fleeting memory now; Kido tried to hold onto the thoughts so that she would never forget those days, but they slipped from her hands and came crashing at her feet, leaving only a muddled mess of images and sounds that could never hold up to scrutiny. Ayano's jet-black hair seemed to gleam as brightly as a gemstone in one, but in the next it was dull by comparison, her smile outshining it by miles. Flickering thoughts of superheroes and laughter, of smiling with happiness and amusement and the innocence that Kido had thought she had lost forever flashed in the back of her mind, and Kido couldn't help but let the corners of her mouth curl up a bit. Then she saw the woman in the red dress laughing again and the smile fell.

She tucked both her hands into her hoodie's pocket and sighed. Even now, when Ayano had been gone for so long, Kido was desperate to catch a glimpse of her. The last time she had seen Ayano had been that day they left her house, after her father told the three of them that the Tateyamas could no longer house them. It hadn't come as a surprise, but hearing the words still stung. Ayano had smiled and forced a laugh for the three of them, saying that they would still all be a family, even if they weren't living in the same house, that she would come visit them and they had to keep up their secret organisation and make sure they protected tomorrow's happiness. They had forced a laugh too, even if Kido felt like crying, but they all promised to her nonetheless.

It had been two years now.

_Would you be proud of me, Ayano? _Kido kicked at a loose pebble on the side of the street, watching it tumble along until it fell off the pavement and into the gutter. It made a clinking sound as it hit against the metal. _Would you be happy? I'm not as good a leader as you, I know, but I'm trying. I'm not as cheerful or pretty, and I'm bad at looking after others, but … _

She couldn't finish the thought. Instead, she turned the corner and walked into the supermarket, filling her mind with thoughts of what everyone had told her to get and what to have for lunch instead of memories of Ayano.

The burst of cold air when she walked into the building almost pushed back her hood. She shivered and pulled it tightly over her head and let herself be obscured in the crowd, for once thankful of her ability. Kido walked around the supermarket slowly, picking up the various drinks, snacks and magazines that had been requested when she had announced she was going out.

As Kido opened the fridge's door to take out a bottle of cola, she caught her reflection in the glass. Red eyes stared back at her, as bright as blood. Lines of grey were traced under them, making her look older, more weary, and her hair fell down around her face in limp strands of green. She looked at her face and wondered how Ayano had ever called her pretty, because all she saw in the glass was a plain, tired girl with ugly red eyes.

She slammed the fridge door shut and left the supermarket as hurriedly as she could. It wasn't until she was halfway back to headquarters that she realised she hadn't paid for her shopping.

When Kido arrived back and dropped the bags on the table, pushing back the feeling of guilt for accidentally stealing them, she was surprised the realise no one else was in. She absentmindedly pulled out her phone and went to send a text to Kano to ask where everyone was, but then rethought herself and sent it to Momo instead. She was more likely to actually just tell Kido without three page's worth of useless information along with it.

It was strangely quiet without the others around. No faint buzzing from anyone's earbuds, no light chatter or giggling- just silence. Kido looked around at the room for a moment, then turned and went to go get changed.

As she rifled through her drawers for a new shirt, shuffling out of her normal hoodie, her hand brushed across a piece of lace. Kido frowned and curled her hand around the fabric, then pulled it out in one swift tug. She held it out in front of her for what felt like an hour, just staring at the skirt.

It had come up to just above her knees when Kido originally bought it, but now it would probably be at about mid-thigh. The edge was trimmed in white lace, and the fabric was adorned with dots of silver and spiralling designs that resembled tiny birds, each one with their wings spread out wide.

_"Hey, hey, Tsubomi, what about this one? It's so cute!" Ayano held out the design with a grin. _

_ Kido balked. "It's a skirt," she said as though that was all that needed to be said. She inched closer to the boy's section, yearning for the comfort of the baggy shirts and trousers that would protect her. _

_ "Oh?" Her sister frowned a little, titling her head. "But you'd look so nice in it, don't you think? And if we got you this blouse, too, you'd look like a little princess." Ayano giggled, holding up the clothes that were far too small for herself and spinning around. She lost balance and stumbled, nearly falling into the shelves behind her, but managed to catch herself at the last second. "Whoops!" She giggled. "But really, don't you want to at least try it on?"_

_ Not wanting to disappoint her, Kido relented and allowed Ayano to drag her to the changing rooms. She pulled on the skirt and blouse awkwardly, the stiff fabric seeming so harsh compared to the cottons she was used to wearing. But when she shuffled out of the cubicle, her head downcast, Ayano had gasped and jumped up and down in joy._

_ "Ah, you look so lovely, Tsubomi," she exclaimed, hands on her cheeks. "Look in the mirror! You're so pretty." Ayano scratched her cheek with one finger, grinning bashfully now. "I'm jealous."_

_ Kido stared at her. "You're jealous of me?" _

_ "Of course!" said Ayano. "Now look at yourself, silly."_

_ Obediently, Kido turned and looked at her reflection, fully prepared to see the same awkward girl she had always seen. Instead, another girl looked back at her, standing tall in perfectly white clothes that contrasted against the jade in her hair. She was so pretty, even with her hair in tangles. Kido found herself entranced with the girl in the mirror, staring with wide eyes._

_ "See," Ayano said beside her, kneeling down on the ground now, "you're so pretty! Can we buy the skirt and blouse? Please?"_

_ The knot in her throat kept Kido from speaking, but she nodded mutely, eyes still stuck on the reflection. _

The blouse couldn't have fit her now, probably having been thrown away a while ago, but Kido could still pull the skirt on. The black vest she had put on under her hoodie looked off with the skirt, so she pulled on a white shirt she found in the back of her drawers instead.

Staring into the mirror once again, Kido wondered whether she would ever see that girl again. The girl with hair the colour of emeralds, rather than seaweed; with eyes the heroic shade of red and not blood. Kido looked at her reflection and sighed. _Plain, _she thought, _not pretty. _The white didn't seem to sparkle like it had when Ayano pointed it out. It was a dull sort of white, faded by time, without anything of note to it.

Just as Kido went to pull the clothes off and put her hoodie back on, she saw red out of the corner of her eye. In a blink, she was turned around, head turning back and forth as she tried to look for the source of the colour. Another flicker of scarlet, and she realised it was coming from the window.

Kido ran to the window and yanked it open, almost falling out of it in her haste. _It was just a bird, _she tried to tell herself, _or maybe a poster that went flying off in the wind. _

But it wasn't either of those things. Instead, just barely clinging to the tree branch stretching out to her window, there was a muffler dyed a shocking red.

For a minute, Kido just stood there. The whole of her upper body was out of the window, her weight resting on her arms and the wind rushing into the warmth of her room, but all she could do was stare at the scarf as it flickered in the wind.

Then, as another gust of wind threatened to take it away, Kido scrambled to pull it off of the tree. Once she was inside again, window closed and the wind kept at bay, Kido slid down the wall and sat on the floor. She stared at the scarf in her hands until her eyes unfocused and the colours blurred, mixing the red of the scarf with her pale skin and her white skirt. It took Kido a minute to realise she was crying.

She wiped at her eyes with the back of her hands, but the tears kept on dripping down her face, hot and bitter on her frozen cheeks.

"Ayano…" Her voice was weak, as faltering as the memories she held of her older sister. She pressed the scarf to her chest and let out a shaky breath, pulling up her knees closer to her as she breathed in and out, in and out.

_"Look at me!" The three of them looked around and blinked at Ayano. She was standing there, still in her school uniform, with a red muffler wrapped around her neck. Seto gave a nervous giggle. "I'm a superhero, see?"_

_ "Superheroes don't wear scarves," said Kano, but Kido could see his eyes glimmering with something she couldn't quite place. "Especially not red ones."_

_ "That's not true," Ayano said, voice raised with mock outrage. "Red is the most heroic of colours."_

A tear trailed its way along Kido's mouth, the salty taste lingering when she sucked in her lips. Shakily standing up, she made her way over to her mirror again, scarf trailing on the floor as she walked.

_"It's like a secret organisation," Seto blurted out, looking frightened when all their faces turned around to him. "I, um, I didn't mean-"_

_ "No, no, it's just like that!" Ayano beamed, clapping her hands together. She looked pleased beyond belief that she had gotten a reaction out of the three of them. "Like a super secret organisation just for us, right? For the secret red heroes, hehe." _

_ "C-Can I have one?" Kido asked, voice barely above a whisper. _

_ "Me too, me too!" said Kano._

_ "And me!" _

_ Ayano just laughed and nodded. "Mm, of course. We'll all dye our things red, and then we'll have our own sort of secret club, right? All together, like one big family."_

The muffler fell around Kido's neck naturally, as soft as silk against her skin. She had stopped crying now, but she didn't bother to wipe the trail they had left off her cheeks.

As she looked into the mirror, she breathed in. The scarlet of the scarf gave the outfit a spark and hum, and Kido broke into a watery smile as she looked at herself. She still didn't see that girl in the mirror, with the glowing clothes and confident stand, but that was okay. For now, Kido was okay with looking at herself instead: just Kido Tsubomi, with an old skirt and her older sister's muffler, trying to smile as well as she knew how.

Suddenly, the phone she had left on her bed vibrated. Kido jumped, then reached over to it and unlocked the screen.

**Message Received: 16:04, Today**

**From: Kano Shuuya**

**Yooooo~! Momo said you sent her a text, but her phone doesn't have any credit left, so she asked me to message you instead. We just went out to go and get some pizza because Mary said she was hungry. I said you would just want cheese and tomato, is that okay? Well, we've already bought it, so I suppose it's too late now. Anyway, we're on our way back now! I got bored waiting for our order, so I took some pictures of me and Shintaro to pass the time.**

**[12 photo attachments]**

After scanning the message, Kido clicked off the screen and dropped the phone back onto the mattress.

She gave one last glance to the mirror. Red eyes blinked back at her, the same shade as the scarf trailed around her neck.

_You said we had to protect tomorrow's happiness, right, Ayano? _Slowly, Kido started to take off the skirt again, being careful not to accidentally pull off the muffler. _That our eyes were something to be proud of, not to hide. That we could be heroes. So I'm going to do my best. _

Just as she finished pulling on a vest and more comfortable trousers, Kido heard the clang of the door opening, then a chorus of voices flowing into the room outside her's.

"Hey, Kido, we're back and we bought pizza!"

"I'll be out in a second," she yelled back as she picked up her hoodie again. Kido let the scarf fall off now as she put the hoodie on, watching it tumble down onto the carpet silently.

_Are you there, Ayano? _She knelt down and picked it up, wrapping it into a square and placing it on her pillow. _If you are… _

Kido almost scoffed at her thoughts. They were ridiculous and childish, obviously not true. Ayano was probably in some other town, already having forgotten the orphan children she had as her family and the games she used to pal with them. There wasn't any sort of way in which Ayano could still be looking out for them.

But, still, as Kido sighed and went to leave her room, she hesitated when her fingers touched the door's handle. Still not looking back, Kido's hand clenched and released the brass. "Thank you," she said, staring steadily at the peeling paint on the door. Then she grasped the handle and pulled, walking into the main room to the sound of laughter and gossip.

In the room, the curtains fluttered open and close in time with the wind, even though the windows were closed. "Ah, you're so tall now, Tsubomi…" A choked giggle filled the room. "My little sister's all grown-up, huh? Sorry I couldn't stay around to look after you. You must be pretty upset with me." A fabricated gust of wind blew the curtains again, revealing the girl standing there, black hair flowing. "Try to remember that word I loved, okay?"


End file.
